Introduction
A well-designed form can still cause problems if its settings aren’t configured properly. KoboToolbox settings control how your form looks to respondents, what background information it records, and who can access your project. This tutorial covers the two main groups: form settings and general project settings. You will learn how to choose a form style, set up multi-page layouts, and decide which metadata to collect. We will also cover how to archive, delete, and share projects with your team or the public.
Form settings
To change the form settings, open Kobo Toolbox, click on the form menu, then go to “Layout & Settings” at the top, far right corner.
Form style
There are six form styles that a user can use, including: single page, grid theme, grid theme with headings in ALL CAPS, multiple pages, grid theme + multiple pages, and grid theme + multiple pages + headings in ALL CAPS.
The default setting is single page.
The multiple-page setting is also common and is best suited for long questionnaires.
Multiple-page setting allows the user to show different sections of a questionnaire on different pages.
For this to work, the user needs to group the questions first, then set each group to be on its own page.
To set each group on its page, click on the group, then next to the group name, click on the settings. Click on the appearance (advanced) tab and select the option “field-list – show all questions in this group on the same screen” as shown in the image below.
Metadata
This is data that is collected automatically during the administration of the questionnaire.
Metadata includes: start time, end time, today, device id, username, SIM serial, subscriber id, and phone number
You can select which metadata you want the form to collect for you.
General settings
Go to the home page.
From the menu, click settings.
Delete project
This setting allows the user to delete a project.
This setting is applicable to projects that are yet to be deployed, that is, those still in draft form.
Archive project
You can archive a project after you are done with your data collection.
Archived projects cannot allow any more submissions.
Only projects that have been deployed can be archived.
On the other hand, projects that are yet to be deployed cannot be archived.
Delete project and data
This setting allows the user to delete a project and all its data from their Kobo Toolbox account.
The setting is applicable only to projects that have been deployed.
Sharing settings
The general settings also have options for sharing a project.
There are two ways of sharing a project:
a. By adding users
You can add a user by adding their usernames.
You must also specify the tasks the user can perform from the drop-down menu (e.g view form, edit form, view submissions, add submissions etc), then click “grant permission.”
You can also add a user or users from a previous project.
When you choose this option, a drop-down menu of other projects will be displayed from which you can select the users/team you would like to add to the new project.
b. By sharing publicly
The second way of sharing a project is publicly.
This option provides the user with a link that the user can then share with other people.
This is useful, especially if you have a project with a large sample size and for which the respondents are required to administer the questionnaire by themselves.
Conclusion
You can now set up your form’s style and metadata and manage your project with the general settings. Multi-page layouts make long questionnaires easier to complete, and well-chosen metadata strengthens your data quality checks. Be careful with deletion: deleting a deployed project also deletes all of its data, so archive it instead when you only want to stop submissions. Set sharing permissions carefully so that each team member gets only the access they need. In the next tutorial, we will deploy your form and connect it to the KoboCollect mobile app.
Other tutorials in the series
How to Deploy a KoboToolbox Form to KoboCollect in Android Phones (KoboToolbox Tutorial #6)
How to Collect Data with KoboCollect: Step-by-Step Guide (KoboToolbox Tutorial #7)
KoboCollect Settings: How to Configure the App for Fieldwork (KoboToolbox Tutorial #8)
Data Management in KoboToolbox: Reports, Validation & Export (KoboToolbox Tutorial #9)
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